Cocaine trafficker gets 20 years in prison

The last of 13 defendants convicted in a San Diego County-based drug-trafficking ring has been sentenced, U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy said Monday.

Michael Dwayne Tryals was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. James Lorenz to 20 years in federal prison. Tryals was convicted by a jury in March of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. The conviction followed a four-day trial.

According to court records, Tryals and 12 other defendants were charged in 2008 following a wiretap investigation by the Violent Crimes Task Force gang unit into methamphetamine and crack-cocaine drug trafficking. The investigation was dubbed “Operation Dog Pound.” Some defendants were members of the Lincoln Park Bloods and the West Coast Crips street gangs.

The defendants were arrested on Jan. 16, 2008, in raids across the county, federal officials said earlier.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew G. Schopler, the lead prosecutor in the case, said that Tryals had been trafficking crack cocaine from his girlfriend’s apartment, where she lived with her 5-year-old son. Digital scales with crack-cocaine residue and other drug paraphernalia were seized when Tryals was arrested at the apartment.

Tryals had several aliases, including “Texas Mike,” Michael Tryls, Dave Brooks, Leon Howard Blair and Earl David Hollis. He received the longest prison sentence of the 13 defendants.

The Violent Crimes Task Force consists of agents, officers and deputies from local, state and federal agencies, including the FBI, San Diego Police Department and San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.